Our lady of Babylon
Subtitle: a novel
By: John Rechy.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Arcade Pub.; Arcade Publishing
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 353
Subjects: Man-woman relationships -- Fiction.; Women -- Sexual behavior -- Fiction.; Women -- Crimes against -- Fiction.; Sex role -- Fiction.
Description: In the late eighteenth century, a Lady flees to her dead husband's chateau, accused of his murder. There she is haunted by highly charged dreams about infamous women and their lovers, including Adam, Paris, John the Baptist, Jason, and Cortes. Within her dreams, the Lady discovers that these women - all, like herself, involved in catastrophic events - have been misunderstood and greatly maligned.

A chance encounter with the fabulous Madame Bernice, an unconventional mystic who lives in a neighboring chateau, convinces the Lady that her "dreams" are in fact memories. The Lady's precise and vivid memories extend back even to the plains of Heaven during the War of angels led by Lucifer and his sister, Cassandra, who plot to thwart God's exile of Eve and Adam - and God is a main player here, boldly characterized.

As the Lady and Madame prepare to announce the truth of the Lady's past lives, grave dangers threaten to ambush their disclosures. An erotic novel, entitled The True Account, a work full of accusations and dire warnings, charges the Lady with graphic debaucheries. It also contains buried clues that may identify the Lady's pursuers, figures who exist within the corridors of greatest power. Just who are these figures?

Are the murderers of the Lady's husband - and the intended subverters of her ancient truths - among the mightiest of all hierarchies? As the Lady and Madame Bernice ponder these questions, they prepare themselves to face the public and vindicate all the fallen women through the corrected accounts of their lives.